In defence of "Shine, Jesus, Shine" and other hymns

The conception of what is PC tends to completely inverted in the Catholic blogosphere compared to everyday life. In this context, I am afraid that I am completely non-PC.

I use Follow me, follow me as the opening hymn before the Stations of the Cross on the first Sunday afternoon on Lent. This celebration takes place with the young people of the uniformed organistions of the parish - Beavers and Rainbows up to Scouts and Guides. Here are the words:

Follow me, follow me,
leave your home and family,
leave your fishing nets and boats upon the shore.
Leave the seed that you have sown,
leave the crops that you've grown,
leave the people you have known and follow me.


1. The foxes have their holes
and the swallows have their nests,
but the Son of man has no place to lay down.
I do not offer comfort,
I do not offer wealth,
but in me will all happiness be found.

2. If you would follow me,
you must leave old ways behind.
You must take my cross and follow on my path.
You may be far from loved ones,
you may be far from home,
but my Father will welcome you at last.

3. Although I go away
you will never be alone,
for the Spirit will be there to comfort you.
Though all of you may scatter,
each follow his own path,
still the Spirit of love will lead you home.

The meditations for the Stations that follow are then based on the theme of Jesus, the grain of wheat who has been buried and therefore bears much fruit, the Stations of the Cross therefore seen as a way towards the Eucharist. Adapted from the then Cardinal Ratzinger's mediations at the Colosseum in 2005, but I assume that you will have recognised that. At the end of the Stations, we have a procession of the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance to the altar for a period of Adoration. The hymn sung as we do this is The Servant King:

1. From heav’n you came, helpless babe;
entered our world, Your glory veiled.
Not to be served, but to serve,
And give Your life, that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King.
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

2. There in the garden of tears,
My heavy load He chose to bear.
His heart with sorrow was torn,
"Yet not My will but yours", He said

3. Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice.
Hands that flung stars into space,
To cruel nails surrendered.

4. So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him.
Each other's needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we're serving.

It is very powerful, particularly if you can time the singing of the chorus to coincide with the placing of the monstrance on the altar.

Both hymns gain richness because of the context of the Way of the Cross and the Eucharistic presence of Jesus.

I use Shine, Jesus, Shine as the hymn on the Feast of Christ the King. Again, on the Sunday afternoon, we have an event with the youth organisations of the parish. We have a time of Eucharistic Adoration, with a catechesis, and then Evening Prayer of the feast day in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I use Shine, Jesus, Shine as the hymn at the start of Evening Prayer.

1. Lord, the light of your love is shining,
in the midst of the darkness, shining;
Jesus, light of the World, shine upon us,
set us free by the truth you now bring us,
Shine on me, shine on me.

Shine, Jesus, shine
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord,
and let there be light.

2. Lord, I come to Your awesome presence,
from the shadows into Your radiance;
by the blood I may enter Your brightness,
search me, try me,consume all my darkness.
Shine on me, shine on me.

3. As we gaze on Your kingly brightness,
so our faces display Your likeness,
ever changing from glory to glory;
mirrored here may our lives tell Your story.
Shine on me, shine on me.

Again, the hymn gains a richness from being used in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus.

I also use a Scottish folk melody setting for the Magnificat on both occasions:

1. My soul is filled with joy
as I sing to God my Saviour:
he has looked upon his servant,
he has visited his people.

And holy is his name
through all generations!
Everlasting is his mercy
to the people he has chosen,
and holy is his name!

2. I am lowly as a child,
but I know from this day forward
that my name will be remembered,
for all men will call me blessed.

3. I proclaim the pow’r of God!
He does marvels for his servants;
though he scatters the proud-hearted
and destroys the might of princes.

4. To the hungry he gives food,
sends the rich away empty.
In his mercy he is mindful
of the people he has chosen.

5. In his love he now fulfills
what he promised to our fathers.
I will praise the Lord, my saviour.
Everlastingis his mercy.

I do find an interesting ecumenical significance in the way in which I can use Shine, Jesus, Shine and The Servant King. Both were written by an Evangelical Christian, but have a strong Biblical base. For the writer, I do not think there was any conception that they would be used in the context of Eucharistic Adoration in which I use them. However, I think this is possible because of the faithfulness of the writers to the Biblical text - which means that their incorporation into Catholic worship fulfils their meaning and does not contradict it. It is a question of completion of the in-complete, rather than rejection of the erroneous. This is the principle of seeing the elements of truth in other religious beliefs that underlies an authentic understanding of dialogue.